The Fatwas and the Nusayri/Alawis of Syria

Abstract

From the time that the Nusayris/Alawis first appeared, several fatwas were issued with regard to them. There were five fatwas prior to the twentieth century which were issued by Sunni scholars. Some of these fatwas were specifically against the Nusayris/Alawis while others were against all the extreme Shi'ite creeds including the Nusayris. The first three fatwas were issued during the fourteenth century, during the period of Mamluk rule. They were issued by Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din ibn Taymiyya, and were specifically directed against the Nusayris. The fourth fatwa was issued during the first years of the Ottoman rule over the region of Syria and was against all the extreme Shi'ite creeds. The fifth and last fatwa was issued by a local Shaykh of Latakia specifically against the Nusayris. Those fatwas viewed the Nusayris as heretics outside Islam. During the twentieth century, after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the region witnessed the ascendance of ‘Pan Arabism’, and it was during this period that the Nusayris, known now as Alawis, received a fatwa from the prominent Sunni mufti Hajj Amin al-Husayni recognizing them as part of the Muslim community, which helped them integrate into the Arab world and in Syria. In 1970, the Alawis, under the leadership of the Alawi Hafiz al-Asad, became the rulers of Syria. During the 1970s the Alawis were granted two additional fatwas, this time from prominent Shi'ite scholars recognizing them as part of the Shi'ite creed. All these fatwas had an enormous effect on shaping the history of the Nusayris.